I, Alexandria Viszolay, affirm the following: Service industry jobs, concerning waiters and waitresses in Albuquerque, New Mexico, are closer to living wage careers than minimum wage professions due to their average, hourly salary determined by The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Although closer to the living wage, the overall average must be raised to avoided complications of living, according to MIT’s wage calculations.) The controversy on the living wage verses minimum wage has stirred many questions and offered extensive debates from world leaders for decades – a difficult area to the American government since the beginning of established wages. In 2012, The Albuquerque Minimum Wage Ordinance raised the minimum wage from $7.50 to $8.50 per hour – after tax, this new number decreases to about $5.00 per hour and is well below the living wage, estimated at $16.00 dollars an hour (after tax). Although the average $9.01 estimated for servers is above minimum wage, after tax, this number is one-half the recommended living wage. *The $9.01 per hour salary can change based on location of workplace, restaurant rating, cost of food, overall attitude towards patrons, and even gender. For the purpose of this debate, the definition of serve industry salaries will remain $9.01 per hour of work.

I am at a lost of what point you are trying to achieve. If you say that minimum wage should stay at $9.01 per hour and the estimated cost of living is $16.00 per hour then are you arguing for or against increasing minimum wage or simply moderating at $9.01. Can you further explain?